


A Special Occasion

by Ancalime1



Series: Unnamed Astronaut AU [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Fluff, Gen, Outer Space, Space AU, like so much self-indulgent fluff, nasa's going back to the moon so i decided to send bruce there!, these two are such dorks i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 20:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ancalime1/pseuds/Ancalime1
Summary: He had never seen anything quite so desolate, yet so beautiful.(In which Bruce and Jane go to the moon!!)





	A Special Occasion

**Author's Note:**

> NASA recently announced the Artemis program, so I decided to write this up to celebrate!
> 
> It's not in the "canon" of my other pieces for this AU and stands on its own.

He had never seen anything quite so desolate, yet so beautiful. 

The lunar landscape stretched before him, curving into a series of craggy white hills that practically glistened against the black backdrop of space. Specks of stars freckled the sky like snowflakes on a window, and the nearest one, the sun, glared at the corner of his vision. 

And the earth? The earth was the size of a dime. If he wanted to, he could raise a hand and cover it up with his thumb.

He inhaled. This was the greatest, and most terrifying moment of his life.

The suited form of Commander Foster bunny-hopped back into his view, and he nearly punched himself in the helmet trying to rub his eyes.

“What a sight, huh?” fizzled the commander’s voice in his earpiece.

Bruce cleared his throat. “Yes,” he whispered, still starstruck (or moonstruck, in this case). He blinked furiously, willing himself to move. Bad time to freeze inexplicably when the entire planet has their eyes on you, he thought.

“I promise it’s even better out here,” teased the commander, hopping towards him. She extended a gloved hand toward him, and he swore he could see her warm smile through her visor. “Come on—we’ll walk together.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile back at her. He nodded, then slowly put his hand in hers and leapt with her out of the landing module. 

His breath hitched as his feet found the ground again, staggering a little bit in the low gravity. He heard the commander’s laugh through his earpiece, then felt a pair of hands steadying him, his boots silently planting themselves into the powdery lunar soil. A single, shaky laugh escaped his lips, and he tried to suppress a smile. “I... I did it,” he gasped, his cheeks flushing with warmth. His lips cracked into a smile in spite of himself. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

“Feels good, right?” chuckled the commander, peering into his visor with a grin. 

Bruce felt something lodge itself into his throat, and immediately reassumed his composure. Yes, he stopped himself from saying. “Uh, If I try walking, I’m gonna fall,” he said instead, looking anywhere except at the commander.

The commander laughed again and patted him on the back, causing him to nearly lose his balance and bob awkwardly on his feet. “Oops! Uh, sorry, didn’t mean to do that,” she said, helping to steady him once again. “Here. Why don’t we try practicing it first? I’ll show you.”

Before Bruce could answer, she bounded off away from him, alternating lightly between each foot. It was a little surreal watching her—it didn’t feel like he was there watching his colleague, but rather a documentary of an Apollo mission. He shuddered, feeling a wave of awe hitting him just then. They had made it. He had made it. He was standing on the goddamn moon.

“See that?” Chirped the commander inside his helmet, breaking him out of his reverie. “Just hopping from foot-to-foot. Like you’re on a trampoline or something. Easy enough.”

“Uh, right,” said Bruce, failing to recount the last time he’d been on a trampoline. “Yeah. Easy.” He sucked in a deep breath. Okay. Don’t fall. He steeled himself and tentatively waddle-hopped over to the commander. When he reached her, he grinned and immediately lost his balance, nearly falling into her arms.

“Whoa, easy there, cowboy,” she laughed, standing him back on his feet. She gave his suit a gentle pat, another warm smile gracing her face. “So, how do you feel?”

Bruce smiled sheepishly. “It’s amazing,” he whispered, his eyes dropping to the ground. His chest began to glow with an inexplicable warmth, and he hugged himself, cheeks flushing with heat. “I—I feel amazing,” he stumbled, a sudden desire to twirl striking him. He laughed, shaking his head. “Gosh. I feel like a little kid again. Every winter I—I used to put on my snowsuit and pretend I was an astronaut. I’d hop around in the snow and pretend I was walking on the moon.”

“And now you are,” said the commander in a soft voice.

Bruce sighed. “And now I am.” A single tear stung his eye, and he let out a shaky laugh. “Uh… sorry. I’m not usually this emotional.”

The commander gave him a fond look. “Well. It  _ is _ a special occasion.”

Bruce gulped and gave her a teary smile. “Yes, I suppose it is,” he said softly, his gaze dropping to his boots. “Commander, I… thank you.”

The Commander gave him a puzzled look. “For what?”

“For all of this,” he said, gesturing to the landing module, and the lunar plain that stretched out before them. “I sure as hell wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

The commander chuckled. “Careful there, Doc. NASA doesn’t like that kind of talk.” 

“Is that right?” said Bruce, grinning. “Would they prefer if I spoke in rhymes, like you?”

He knew he was in for it the moment the words were out of his mouth. He never thought he’d see someone hop quite so furiously over to him as the commander did just then, like an angry bunny rabbit wearing a big puffy space suit. He would have laughed at this if the commander hadn’t smacked him backwards, sending him floundering through the air like a penguin attempting flight. He landed with a hard  _ bounce _ , sending a spray of lunar dust right into the shit-eating grin of the commander.

“Did I hit a nerve?” He laughed, attempting to get up. He stumbled, and promptly fell with another bounce. “Oh, for crying out—Commander? Be a pal and help me up, will you?” 

The commander snickered, then hopped over to where he lay in an unceremonious heap. She extended a gloved hand towards him… and yelped as he pulled her down with him, bobbing awkwardly against the bulking mass of his suit and bouncing comically away. Bruce made to cover his mouth as he laughed and wound up smacking himself in the helmet instead—a beautiful stroke of karma as it were. “Bruce!” the commander choked out between guffaws of laughter. “Bruce, you  _ son-of-a _ —” 

“—Careful, Commander! NASA doesn’t like that kind of talk,” chuckled Bruce, helping her to her feet. 

“Oh, stow it, Banner,” huffed the commander, a grin flashing beneath her visor. She glanced at the watch on her wrist and sighed. “Aw, jeez. We should really go.”

“What? Already?”

“Yeah. Seems like time just flies right by out here, huh?” she murmured, giving the scraggly lunar plains a wistful look. “C’mon. We’ve got about an hour left on our tanks—that should give us enough time to get to the base with plenty of cushion.” She gave Bruce’s shoulder a pat. “Whaddaya say, Doc?”

A pang of disappointment swelled in his chest, and he likewise checked his watch and let out a breathy sigh. “I suppose,” he said, idly kicking up a cloud of soil. A laugh. “I’d offer to race you back, but to be honest, I’m not in any hurry to leave.”

The commander gave him a plaintive smile. “I know,” she said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “We’ll be back out here before you know it, though. Plus, the base habitat isn’t so bad—I did help install it, after all.”

“Well in that case, I can’t wait to pick it apart,” said Bruce, his lips curling into a smirk. “You know, tell you what you could have done better and stuff.”

The commander gasped in fake-offense and whipped her arm off of him. “Well if  _ that’s  _ how you’re gonna be—” 

She immediately took off, bounding rapidly between each foot at a speed Bruce hadn’t even thought possible on the moon.

“—last one to base gets to clean the washrooms!”

Bruce gaped after her, arms dangling stupidly at his sides. “Thanks, Commander,” he called, tentatively hopping over a deep gray crevice that lay before him. He stopped in his tracks, suddenly frozen at the sight of the lunar-surface-turned-silver, the crisp glint of sunlight washing over every hill and crater. A sensation of warmth glowed in his chest, and he let out a small sigh of contentment before leaping after her.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are strongly appreciated!! Feel free to also check me out on tumblr @cosyastronaut if you'd like <3


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